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Western Continent
Earliest History/Creation The written history of the continent now known for it largest nation dates back over 1000 years, but its verbal history dates back farther. The beast races were first, created by the primitive gods of Chaos, who were little more than forces of creation. They took the beasts of the land and imbued them self-awareness, intelligence, and forms that allowed for the creation of tools. The land then was a much different place: beastial dragons roamed the skies and magical beasts were rampant. The beast people struggled for survival and formed tribes. This organization caused the gods of Law that gave form and balance to the world to grow and change into lawgivers and protectors. The gods of Law, in time, tired of the beastial races devotion to gods of Chaos and desired to make their own races. Out of the deep mountain stone, they created Dwarves; out of elegant crystal, the Elves; out of the smooth river rocks, they created the Halflings; and out of the rich soil, they created Humans. Their creations all took to their new lives quickly, and out of their need for safety, created their own tribes, which quickly developed into the first real cities. The races of Law traded and warred with the races of Chaos and balance formed. The two sides shaped and molded each other, advanced with each other, and as they advanced, so did their gods grow in complexity. The Coming of the Dragonlords Unbeknownst to the all the races of the lowlands, high up in the reaches of the Sulrest Mountains in the west, the dragons had evolved into powerful being of great magical prowess. The strongest of their kind formed a coven of Dragonlords who horded power and controlled their lessers with an iron fist. They gazed down on the primitive races below and their gods catering to their needs and felt contempt. They felt superior due to the fact that they had achieved their power on their own and vowed to wipe out the races of Law and Chaos. The gods saw this and feared for their creations. They came together and decided to prepare them for the coming threat. They took their time, knowing the nearly immortal Dragons would play the long game, and that they needed every moment to prepare. The gods of Chaos taught the beast races and those few Human tribes who had pledged themselves to Chaos how to tap in the magical energy of the world and to draw power from the world of spirits. The gods of Law imbued their faithful with divine energy that allowed the ability both to do great good and great harm. They went to the Dwarves in the roots of the northern mountains and talked them into sharing their new found ability to smelt metal to craft weapons and armor and they went to the Elves in their treetop forest-cities and talked them into sharing their ability to imbue energy into mundane items to make them superior. For the first time, the various races stood together and helped each other. They created cities of stone and steel, weapons capable of great damage. They discovered fascinating abilities, both divine and arcane, and tapped into realms that were before unknown to them, summoning powerful allies to come to their defense. And then the Dragons came. The Dragon War started off badly for the races of the lowlands, but instead of cowering, they thought of their creators and the effort that was put in their preparation and were bolstered. Their belief in themselves and their gods became so strong the gods themselves began to manifest. Armies of dragons flew over battlefields as their own creations, the Kobolds, Orcs, and the Goblinoids fought below in massive battles against the best armed warriors the children of the gods had ever had. The Dragonlords finally were forced to take the field against the gods themselves and were quickly struck down, much to their surprise. Most were able to flee back to their mountains to lick their wounds, leaving behind their creations to the mercy of their enemies. Birth of a Nation The Dragon Wars, while a little over two centuries, represented a massive leap in the technology and culture of the peoples of the continent. Most of the beast races were content to return to their lives as farmers and hunters, taking many of the useful technologies and magics they had learned back with them, and the Dwarves happily went back to their mines and caverns. Most of the other races, in particular the Humans, were fascinated by all they had experienced and learned. They developed great cities around the keeps and castles that they had built during the War, and power struggles began, both large and small, throughout the newly founded kingdoms and feifdoms. Ideologies rose and fell, heresies were born and became doctrine and were replaced with new dogmas. Eventually, one kingdom began to rise above the others. A coastal city ruled by an Elf named Feyndren Melah arranged an alliance among several surrounding kingdoms to defend against raids from the Red Scar Tribe, a large, nomadic tribe of Halflings that were devastating the area with bloody raids. The conflict ended in a pitched battle between the armies of the Melah Alliance, in which Melah himself rode into battle. The fight raged on for 5 days, but in the end, the Alliance came out victorious. The city was renamed Melahne (City of Melah in Elvish) in his honor and the Elf was named the Regent of the alliance. As time went by, the separate kingdoms became more and more alike, working closely together, until they signed Articles of Unification, voting to become one nation, and adopted the name of the Regent for their new country. Regent Melah proved to be a wise ruler, if somewhat shrewd, for several centuries and the nation prospered and expanded under his rule. A surprising number of merchants and farmers left their own kingdoms in hopes of having more safety and economic success under the Melahnish flag, which led to several kingdoms giving up their own sovreignty in order to join the mighty nation. It seemed as though Melah could do no wrong, but his reputation took a hit when Melahnish expansion set foot into the wrong forest. Nature's Wrath In his later years, Regent Melah began to become fanatically devoted to the Gods of Law and built many grand cathedrals in multiple cities in their honor. He also started a push that would lead to the followers of Chaos feeling like second class citizens. While the movement didn't progress too far, it did lead to conflict with the ancient Druid stronghold known as the Ironwood Enclave. The Enclave was situated in a deep forest that separated the borders of Melahne from a nearby kingdom that had applied to sign the Articles of Unification. When Melahnish laborers attempted to build a road through the Enclave's forest, the Enclave defended their lands. Regent Melah sent guards to deal with the Chaos-worshipping Druids, but guards were no match for their guerilla tactics and mastery of nature magic. Incensed, Melah gave the order to send a full battelion of troops lead by paladins of the newly-formed Order of Tiron. The Paladins called down divine fire and, combined with their sheer numbers, the army razed the forest, killing every member of the Ironwood Enclave. The massacre caused a violent backlash from the various Druid enclaves in the area. Smaller enclaves began shadow wars with the towns nearby, even going so far as to use their magic to poison crops and water supplies. Over the coming weeks, the Melahnish response became more and more aggressive, with several enclaves being destroyed and the Druids who protected it being scattered to the winds. The surviving enclaves gathered together in secret around the Ashen Locus, a portal to the Wyld plane, and began to perform a last-ditch ritual. As Melahnish armies closed in on the Locus, led by an elderly Melah who had taken the field despite the pleadings of his advisors, the Druids summoned a Elemental Lord of nature who took the form of collosal Ent. The beast stomped its way through, taking a devastating toll on the Melahnish forces. The Ent routed the Druids' enemies and then headed toward the nearest city and began tearing it apart. The Elemental Lord was only sated when Regen Melah offered his life in exchange for safety of his kingdom and a promise of peace with the Druids. The Druids would maintain the Ashen Locus as the last of their permanent enclaves, as well as being allowed to travel and maintain any wild areas in the kingdom. They would be given free passage to travel the roads, provided they were not found to be guilty of any crimes. With the sealing of the deal, Melahn was without a High Regent for the first time in more than two centuries. The veritible golden age that Melah had lead would be tested by the only one of his sons who was willing to step up to the task.